This invention relates to a tire and more particularly to an insert for a tire which provides a plurality of chambers within the tire, such that after inflation each chamber is isolated from the others. In this manner, if one or more of the chambers is punctured, the other chambers retain their charge.
In multi-chamber tires where the chambers are structurally separate, it is advantageous to provide a single valve means through which it is possible to inflate and deflate the chambers simultaneously. Separate valves have been used for the separate inner and outer tires; however, such a design is inconvenient, expensive and impractical as it requires special rims and accessories. Others have proposed to use a valve structure that has two separate air valves operating through two separate air passages. In view of the standardization in the industry, a redesign of the rim to accommodate such charge or the use of two valves would be impractical. Therefore, the state-of-the-art valve design for tubeless tires is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,818,101; which is hereby incorporated by reference.
The present invention solves these and other problems by providing a multi-chambered inner tube having a single valve which isolates each chamber from the other chambers. The no-flat tire insert is similar to the inner tube of a tire except that the no-flat insert comprises a plurality of balloons connected to a single distribution manifold of a valve stem.